Wednesday, 21 December 2016

SONGS FROM THE ALPS

The
John Silver Band began life in Belluno in 2005 with a line up formed by Gianni Carlin (vocals, flute, xylophone), Emmanuele Burigo
(electric and acoustic guitar), Federico Bassanello (bass) and
Fabrizio Gaspari (drums, glockenspiel). The band split up in 2011,
after a good live activity on the local scene and a self-released debut
album entitled La luce che muore nel buio (2009) featuring
funny, sarcastic lyrics and an overall sound influenced by Jethro
Tull, Frank Zappa, blues-rock and psychedelia...

Three
years later, in 2014 Gianni Carlin and Emmanuele Burigo started a new
project with a rhythm section formed by Antonio Nabari (bass,
glockenspiel) and Enrico Tormen (drums) carrying on their previous
band's legacy. The name of the new band is Campo Magnetico (Magnetic
field) and in 2016 they home-recorded and self-released an
interesting debut album entitled Li vuoi quei kiwi? (Do you
want those kiwis?). In everyday life magnetic fields are most often
encountered as a force created by permanent magnets, which pull on
ferromagnetic materials and attract or repel other magnets. Well, in
this case the permanent magnets are the hard, raw rhythm section on
one side and the clean, soaring notes of the flute on the other side
and the nine instrumental tracks on the album draw all their strength
from the contrast between the two opposite poles...

The
opener "Pane da guardia" (Watch-bread) sets the atmosphere.
The pace is slow and heavy, distorted electric guitar riffs lead the
march as a storm of iron butterflies fly around. Then the soaring
notes of the flute bring in light melodies and songs from the
woods... Can you get the picture?

The
following "La fiera di Düsseldorf"
(Düsseldorf Fair) begins
by an experimental section where the voice is used as an instrument
and the band seem free to improvise but uncertain about what
direction take. Well, Gianni Carlin is not Demetrio Stratos and
nothing is easy here. Luckily the experiment is not too long and on
the second part of the piece the band stand up, the rhythm takes off
and the flute begins to cry you a song...

Campo Magnetico 2016

The
long "Sabbia di cammelli di sabbia" (Sand of camels of
sand) in my opinion is the weakest track of the lot. Here at times
the musicians seem to play almost casually mixing wordless nursery
rhymes and oriental flavours but the results are not always
convincing and they risk get stuck in the quicksands of boredom...

The
lively "Perché hai il fiatone John?" (Why are you getting
out of breath John?) is definitely better, even if it doesn't shine
for originality. It leads to the short, dreamy "Buccia di pesce"
(Fish skin) where the rhythm calms down for a rest before the ride
under the stars of the hypnotic "Appuntamento al buio"
(Randez-vous in the dark).

"L'osso
dell'albero" (The bone of the tree) is another good track that
recalls early Jethro Tull as the following "Sig. Tartaruga"
(Mr. Turtle) that alternates surges of energy and slower passages.
The closer "La tua ciabatta focosa" (Your fiery slipper)
starts with electric guitar riffs that remind me of Black Sabbath. This track
could describe in a very funny way a kind of parasitical couch
potato... But the interpretation of the music is up to you!

On
the whole, this an interesting, home-grown album with a strong
vintage atmosphere. The sound quality might not be one of the best
and personally I think that the use of a Hammond organ could have
improved the final result but I enjoyed it anyway.

However,
give it a try and judge for yourselves. You can listen to the
complete album HERE